Bristol Zoo Project gets go ahead to create new forest habitat for endangered animals

The Central African forest habitat will provide a home to several critically endangered species. Credit: Blackpoint Design

A zoo has been given the go-ahead to build a new forest habitat as part of plans to protect some of the world's most critically endangered species.

The new Central African forest habitat at Bristol Zoo Project will provide a home to western lowland gorillas and slender-snouted crocodiles.

The animals will also be joined by mangabeys, African grey parrots and several extremely threatened species of West African freshwater fish.

Work on the project is set to begin in spring, and is expected to be complete in 2025.

There area will have integrated learning spaces for students, visitors and schoolchildren to learn more about the animals. Credit: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Bristol Zoological Society (BZS) said the habitat has been designed to evoke the landscape of Equatorial Guinea, and will make the most of the wooded area of the zoo’s 136-acre site on the outskirts of the city.

The gorillas and mangabeys will be living in an area four and a half times the size of the gorilla troop’s current home at the now-closed Bristol Zoo Gardens site, in Clifton.

“All of the mammals, birds, reptiles and fish that will live in Central African Forest are classified as threatened in the wild," Brian Zimmerman, Director of Conservation and Science at Bristol Zoological Society, said.

He added: "The creation of this habitat not only presents a unique opportunity for us to bring these wonderful creatures together and expand our conservation work, it also enables us to participate in, and lead, managed breeding programmes, which will help to protect them in the future.”

The area will also have integrated learning spaces for students, visitors and schoolchildren to observe, record and appreciate animals in a natural scene.

New visitor facilities and a conservation campus for people studying to become conservationists will also be completed in phases over the coming years.

Justin Morris, Chief Executive at BZS, said securing planning permission for the new habitat is "a major step forward in our vision to create a modern conservation zoo with animals living in spaces more closely reflecting their natural habitats."

"Creating a new environment such as this helps to raise vital awareness of the risks these species are facing and the efforts we can all take to Save Wildlife Together," he added.

Bristol Zoo Project, which is located near Junction 17 of the M5, will remain open throughout the development work.